Thursday, May 29
It’s not that none of my previous cars deserved a good wash/polish/wax (though only the EH was worthy of it really!), nor that I’ve suddenly joined a “car tuning” club. Due to driving on wet, snowy, gritty and salty roads, rust appears much quicker around the bottom of the panels. What also happens in places where the snowploughs…plough, is that they slowly grind their ploughs down. The remnants of metal kick up and put tiny holes in the paint. Exposed paint gets rusty.
Anyway, my good mate/colleague
Tuesday, May 27
21-20 doesn’t tell all.
Like the bruises on my arms and hips, the fact that we were down by 4 or 6 points at half time or that the ref was the worst we’ve ever had…
I played my last game of handball for the season on Saturday night. It was a big game, as we were bottom of the table and could make this team (coming 4th) drop a place or two. The court was full-size (which is about 1.5 times bigger than ours) and super-slick and both teams were psyched up and ready to play hard. And hard we played.
Handball is a tough, hard, physical game. What makes it great is when there are two good referees and the game is played properly: physical and tough but not nasty. Unfortunately we only had one ref and he is possibly the worst in the league. I won’t go into detail about unfairness or bias; I’ll just say that both teams suffered, as the poor refereeing lead to anger and nastiness rather than clean physical play.
Anyhoo, due to a lack of full-team training we were playing poorly and getting flogged, both on the court and on the board. Frustration leads to bad and nasty playing, which is bad for the player, the team and the game. I really struggled with keeping my cool with my self, the ref, the supporters and the opposition.
We had a good talk at half time and actually played the game properly: real physical and as a team. due to injuries and minimal subs a couple of us had to play in different positions than usual, but we managed to come back within a point behind (and could have scored an equaliser if the whole team had realised there were only a few seconds left on the clock). So in the end it was a frustrating game but also quite fulfilling to have been able to improve our play in the second half. The low score (and my bruises) tells of how physical a game it was. Bring on next season!
Thursday, May 15
You lose some, you win some…
So after being delayed by a few hours in
The alternative one they re-booked me on leaves 6 hours later…
At the BA desk where they were re-issuing a ticket, I asked if I could use a phone to call my “appointment”, which I evidently would miss, leaving 3 hours after I was supposed to arrive. The dude at the desk was very kind indeed and allowed me to do that. So I called Candide and left a message on her machine. It really sucks for her, as she took the arvo off work to come and pick me up.
I then asked the kind gentleman if there were any meal vouchers for people like myself, who would be waiting an extra (and un-planned) 6 hours. He told me that I should check with the Qantas desk, in terminal 4 (which is where I’d just come from).
18 minutes (or so…I didn’t count but that’s advertised time it takes to go from T4 to T5) later, after going through security AGAIN, I was at the counter being told that if there were meal tickets available, they should have been given out. They checked anyway and I found myself with a 14 pound meal voucher. As they say: “there’s no harm in asking”, or “if you don’t ask, you won’t get”, or “seek and you will find”. Anyhoo, that was definitely a bonus!
So after another 18 (or so) minutes on the bus from T4 to T5 and passing through security AGAIN (having to empty my whole pack this time due to my 750g pack of Ovomaltine and some toothpaste), I treated myself, sorry, Qantas treated me to a very tasty lunch and coffee at Giraffe Restaurant.
Thinking about it, I was probably the only one to get that meal ticket, as I don’t think anyone else was booked on the flight to Lyon (not coming from Singapore) and I saw nobody else ask. I tell you what though, I’m not usually one to complain or ask such things but I’ll certainly do exactly the same if the situation arises again. So although I’m super-bummed I have to wait around for 6 hours and I don’t get to see Candide ‘til later on this evening, it’s good to have had a bit of a win!
“Don’t sin in your anger…”
I can finally understand that verse. Right now, all I want to do is sin: tear the place apart, make a scene, shout obscenities, lay into someone… evidently, being in a place with tons of security, my sin would result in me missing my flight and probably getting in big trouble (let alone making me look like a complete moron)...
I knew that my fuel stove would be picked up by the screening machines, as it has been before. Because it has no fuel in it, though, it’s ok.
Also in my carry-on bag were other heavy items: some sun screen (a brand new bottle), 2 rolls of duct tape (brand new never used), and some books.
After a full cavity search of my bag, the security guard (just doing his job) said “you can’t take that”, pointing to the sunscreen (brand new) and tape (unused). Evidently he inquired (to his boss I guess, or just someone else who would agree with him that these items needed to be destroyed) about the security zip-ties (actual airport security standard zip-ties) that I use to tie my suitcases with. They were a present from a friend last year and I’ve used them many times before, including today. As always, I carry them on, after securing my bags. They were obviously a security threat as well, though funnily enough the string I had as well (which, unlike the zip-ties) has a breaking point of about 300kg.
It’s not so much the cost that bums me, although the total value of these items was about $20, north waste (did I mention that these were unused and bought specifically to take back to France, as they’re much more expensive in France, though not with the added expense of getting them thrown out, and they were in my carry-on luggage so as to save weight (about 1-1.5Kg), cause I didn’t want to pay excess for silly small items I could carry on. What really bugs me is the always-changing-never-the-same-overkill-stupid-dumb-waste-of-time-security-measures that seems to be augmenting, unwritten and meaningless. I guess I have to be glad that the security is so finicky, as it prevents evil people to hop on the plane with potentially fatal items (like nail clippers (which they didn’t take this time!!!), tweezers, bottled water, string, cork screws, tape, deodorant, after shave…).
Once again, none of this will matter in about 10 minutes and it won’t change my life in any way (except that I will take 10 extra minutes when checking in to make sure that every single item in my carry-on is legal. I am relieved (due to how well/bad the security was doing their job) that I still have my stove. I hope some scumbag gets good use out of the great sunscreen and superb quality duct tape I bought…
Thursday, May 8
Do dogs even get sick like this?
I dunno what it was, but it certainly had an after-effect on me! I was walking home after an evening at Doorbell and Bec’s and knew the whole way that it would be messy.
Thinking back on it, I reckon I’ve blogged every single time I’ve been SICK over the last 5 years. I guess it’s cause I hate it so much and because it only happens to me every year or two.
Last night wasn’t too bad, the being sick part was actually relieving, compared to the huge cold sweating, light headedness, loss of vision and almost passing out. Oh well, I guess I’m good for another year or so…
Wednesday, May 7
Purpose.
What with waiting around (not doing nothing, but not having a definite purpose here in
I also believe that without purpose, most everything we do (or undertake or think about doing) is meaningless…
Washed out.
Due to masses of rain in a short period of time, the pristine mountain bike track out at Kilingsworth have been almost all washed out. I went out there with Chris and John to do some sweet single-track riding and was surprised on a few occasions (especially coming round corners) at whole parts of track just gone (some were chasms over a meter deep, others super rutted out, other underwater).
We still had a great ride on the portions that were ride able, despite getting horrid chain-suck (leaving me without a middle-ring) and eventually bre
Thursday, May 1
Between two coasts…
Weird how small things in life can seem huge, and in a sense if it wasn’t all relative, there would be no small and big things, just things which affect you in different ways.
Today was my last possible day to check my PO box for my visa. I’ve been praying and hoping that I’d get it in time to catch my scheduled flight (leaving at 16:45 today) and because it didn’t turn up this week (I’ve been walking down and checking every morning), I feel like my world has been shaken to its very foundation. I can and will still sing “despite my lot, though hath taught me to say it is well with my soul”, because all is well with my soul. It’s just the other parts of me that are a bit confused and wondering what next…
As I was walking back from the post office I was thinking about all this and the fact that, to date, this is possibly the hardest and strangest time I’ve been through. And then I was thinking about friends in crazy places where people live and die because of their faith in Jesus, about friends who’d just had their lives rocked by sickness, death, separation, theft, or whatever else. Compared to these situations, my life is RELATIVELY unbelievably great: I am loved, I love, I am healthy and things, on the whole, are going great. I’m glad I realise that things are relative, if not all “small” things in life would become huge mountains!
Oh and on a different note, thanks to
